Power Distribution Units (PDUs) are commonly employed to distribute power to electronic devices. One environment in which PDUs are commonly used is a datacenter. A datacenter is a facility used to house electronic devices such as computing systems. These computing systems may be used for storage, application processing, and network traffic routing purposes. It is important that such systems be provided with an uninterrupted supply of power. PDUs draw power from a power source and then supply that power to the power supply units of a number of electronic devices. A power supply unit within an electronic device typically draws power of a particular voltage from a PDU and transforms that power into a form that is readily usable by the electronic circuitry of that electronic device.
Many large scale electronic devices such as the computing systems typically used in a datacenter include many power supply units, each power supply unit collecting power from a different electrical outlet. These different electrical outlets may or may not be on the same PDU. Having electronic devices draw power from multiple PDUs allows the electronic devices to be redundantly powered. For example, a particular electronic device may be drawing power from at least two different PDUs, each PDU receiving power from a different power feed. Such a structure allows the electronic device to still draw power in the event that one power feed to the datacenter is disrupted.
As the environments in which PDUs operate become more complicated, power distribution network structures also become increasingly complex. In the process of setting up the power distribution network or expanding it, human error may leave some electronic devices without a fully redundant power supply. Additionally, the power load balance across the multiple PDUs supplying power to a particular electronic device may cause the power distribution network to operate at less than optimal efficiency.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.